In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

Wang Xingguo returned to the house and began packing his things.

I'll discuss it with my older brother tonight, and we'll move to the new house tomorrow. We'll just return these two houses to the neighborhood committee.

He had also considered leaving his older brother here, since it was two rooms and would be valuable in the future.

But then I thought about it again and realized that we shouldn't leave him here. It would be more appropriate for the whole family to move to a new house and live a quiet life behind closed doors.

After tidying up for a while, Wang Xingguo checked the time and started a fire to cook dinner.

By the time he finished steaming the cornbread, his younger siblings had also come home from school.

Wang Xingguo instructed, "Dinner is ready. Pack your things first. When your older brother comes back, tell him to take a vacation. We'll officially move into the new house tomorrow morning."

Wang Xingning nodded, then couldn't help but ask, "Second Brother, are we really moving away? We're just abandoning this house?"

Wang Xingguo nodded and said in a low voice, "Let's not keep this house. Although the neighbors are all very nice, it will be inconvenient for me to do things in the future. You don't want me to live alone in the new house, right? So let's move in as soon as possible. Then we can close the door and live a quiet life. This is much better than the tenement."

Wang Xingning nodded, but Wang Xingmin was a little reluctant to leave, because he had several friends with him.

The new home is in Taotiao Hutong, which is actually only one kilometer away from here. It doesn't take much time to walk there, and moving won't affect my interactions with the people here.

Wang Xingguo wants a quiet living environment so that when everything is scarce next year, he can bring food home to eat without worry.

You can't see into someone's heart. Although he thought the people in the courtyard were all nice, the world was too complicated. There were too many people who disliked the poor, feared the rich, hated those who had, and laughed at those who didn't.

At 6:30, Wang Xingguo pushed his tricycle and set off to take his wife home and talk to her about moving the next day.

When Wang Xingguo arrived at the market, he walked inside and came to the bean products counter. Li Xiuping and the others were chatting idly. At this time, there were hardly any people buying vegetables, so they were all a bit bored.

From September of last year to June of this year, many organizations responded to the call and began to reform according to the model of the people's commune.

Back then, many people had to hand over their grain rations to their work units and eat in the communal canteens.

Later, it was discovered that this was not good, or rather, not good for some employees. Many people needed to use their rationed food to supplement their families' income. So, many companies stopped requiring employees to eat in the canteen and instead allowed them to hand over only one-third of their food ration and have lunch in the canteen.

Otherwise, whether it's Li Xiuping, who started working last year, or Wang Xingguo, who just became a transport worker, they would both have to eat in the canteen.

When Li Xiuping saw Wang Xingguo, she ran out from behind the counter and asked with a smile, "Why are you here so early today?"

Wang Xingguo explained with a smile, "The house is settled. We'll move and buy furniture tomorrow. I want you to take a vacation. We can't do without you, the lady of the house, when we're buying furniture."

Li Xiuping blushed slightly, but still nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll go find my supervisor to schedule some time off. Wait for me a moment."

After saying that, Li Xiuping skipped and hopped towards the vegetable market office. Wang Xingguo watched her lively and adorable figure from behind and smiled.

This girl can be very temperamental at times, but she can also be incredibly childish at others; she's a complex mix of contradictions.

Overall, it was difficult to win her over, but once I got her, she became very clingy and easy to coax.

Unlike other workplaces, the vegetable market doesn't have a six-day work week with one day off; after all, the vegetable market has to be open for business every day.

Therefore, they take leave in order to rest. However, there is a limit to the number of people who can take leave each day because people need to be arranged to cover for them. So they need to apply in advance to take leave.

Li Xiuping got her leave and happily returned to the house. She asked Wang Xingguo to wait for her outside and then went to prepare to clean with her colleagues.

Wang Xingguo had already arranged it last night that he would go to the Li family's house for dinner tonight to see if the factory needed eels, so he wasn't worried that his mother-in-law wouldn't cook for him.

He originally thought the factory would want him.

When he returned to the Li family home after spending some time with Li Xiuping, Li Laishun and his son had already gone home.

"Xingguo, the eel deal is off. The head of the factory's purchasing department said no."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xingguo asked in confusion, "Uncle Li, what exactly is going on?"

Li Laishun said helplessly, "The section chief said that the factory's purchasing staff have already bought back six or seven hundred catties of eels. Originally, they wanted to buy them at one mao per catty, but now there are people everywhere buying eels, and the price has risen to three mao and five jiao per catty. Although exchanging them for coarse grains and miscellaneous grains seems like a good deal, the section chief said that the grain ration has been reduced, and the factory's quota has also been reduced, so it's more cost-effective to exchange them for eels with money."

Wang Xingguo said with a wry smile, "I know, I guess I have to blame myself for this. I taught those black market people how to catch eels, and it's probably their people who went to the countryside to buy eels that drove up the price."

Li Wenbin said with a smile, "It's no big deal. Anyway, the work quota has already been obtained. The purchase price of your batch of eels is not high. The factory is willing to buy them at 35 cents per pound. It just depends on whether you are willing or not."

Wang Xingguo shook his head and said, "Forget it, I won't sell it at the factory. This stuff is so good, and more and more people know it's edible anyway, so it's more profitable for me to keep it and sell it slowly."

Li Laishun asked, "Xingguo, you can make your own decision about the eels. But how's the paperwork for the house going?"

Wang Xingguo replied with a smile, "Uncle Li, I'll let Xiuping take a day off tomorrow. I'll move tomorrow morning, buy furniture in the afternoon, and after I'm done moving, I'll ask Director Zhao to come and propose marriage. Then we can discuss the wedding date with you."

Li Laishun nodded happily and said, "Great, now that the house issue is resolved, it's time to get married."

The Li family, father and sons, asked for the address of their new home, and Wang Xingguo answered them one by one. Dinner was ready then, and everyone ate together.

Although the factory refused to exchange grain for eels, Wang Xingguo was not worried about it.

Because the Third Steel Rolling Mill's purchase of eels is essentially helping Wang Xingguo promote this product, the price of eels will only continue to rise.

Because the temperature is about to drop, once the temperature drops, the eels will go into the depths to hibernate and overwinter. At that time, people who have already started eating eels will no longer be able to eat them.

This stuff actually tastes really good. If you prepare it properly, you won't get that earthy taste. It's just like lean meat and chicken, but even more tender and smooth.

After having eaten eel for two meals, my family members have been craving it ever since!